Betony Jones
@betonyjones.bsky.social
Labor, Energy and Climate Expert. Policy innovator. Design enthusiast. Former Director of Energy Jobs and Secretary Labor Advisor @Energy
New @volts.wtf episode with our Senior Fellow @betonyjones.bsky.social unpacking the Biden administration’s clean energy rollout. Betony points to permitting and implementation capacity—not community or labor standards, as some suggest—as the main bottlenecks that prevented greater success. 🎧⬇️
A limited defense of Biden's everything-bagel industrial policy
A conversation with Betony Jones.
volts.wtf
Universal free college would be $28 billion per year. The ICE budget increase this year is $30 billion.
In my personal experience, solar firms bid what they think you can tolerate in terms of ROI. With generous NEM policy and high rates, solar projects are expensive. The pricing is totally decoupled from the actual cost of installation. 1 of 2
Robinson Meyer@robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 10mo agoIn Germany, a standard 7kW rooftop solar system costs $10,000. In Australia, it costs $4,000. In the US, the same system costs about $28,000 — thanks partly to a mess of state, local, and HOA rules, per a new analysis shared with @alexckaufman.bsky.social: heatmap.news/energy/solar...
Thank you @boeckler-stiftung.bsky.social for hosting an amazing conference, setting up so many enriching meetings, and asking important and thought provoking questions.
Hans-Böckler-Stiftung@boeckler-stiftung.bsky.social · 11mo agoGrüne Wirtschaft und gute Arbeit zusammendenken - trotz gesellschaftlicher Polarisierung? @betonyjones.bsky.social, die genau daran in der #Biden-Regierung arbeitete, spricht bei der #Labora ab 11.30 Uhr mit @sdullien.bsky.social. 📌 Gleich im Stream: https://labora.digital/
NEW from @betonyjones.bsky.social @rooseveltinstitute.org: Tying Labor Standards to Clean Energy Incentives: How Biden’s Department of Energy Tackled Climate Industrial Policy. Betony shows how DOE reorganized to center workers in the energy transition. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Tying Labor Standards to Clean Energy Incentives: How Biden’s Department of Energy Tackled Climate Industrial Policy - Roosevelt Institute
In a new analysis, Betony Jones explores the efficacy of the Biden administration's incentive-based, equity-conscious industrial strategy approach and the role of government in shaping markets. Despite promising results from aligning climate goals to labor standards, equity, and economic growth at the Department of Energy, the administration’s efforts also highlighted the challenges of establishing long-term economic transformation in a politically fragmented environment.
rooseveltinstitute.org
How can the federal government bring industries in line with its climate goals? Using the Department of Energy as a case study, @betonyjones.bsky.social recounts the wins, losses, and lessons learned from climate industrial policy in the Biden era. rooseveltinstitute.org/public...
🍝 Last week, our Science & Tech Policy Fellows joined @betonyjones.bsky.social, former Labor Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, for dinner at Roma Antica. 💼 Betony drew on decades of experience to share insight on making the clean energy transition work for workers.
We're lucky to have @betonyjones.bsky.social at @dataforprogress.org. In a new piece, she outlines how we can continue to help communities shape & benefit from Biden-era federal investments & ensure we're ready for our next chance at federal climate action: www.dataforprogress.org/insights/202...
Catalyst, Not Commemoration: Keeping the IRA Future-Focused
No matter what happens next with the IRA or BIL, we need to ensure that implementation succeeds.
dataforprogress.org
Data for Progress@dataforprogress.org · last yr.In a DFP Insights piece on the guide, senior resident fellow Betony Jones writes: “These maps and data are tools not to commemorate a once-in-a-lifetime...investment, but to ensure that BIL and IRA are the catalysts of a durable clean energy transition.” www.dataforprogress.org/insights/202...
Great piece by @evanhalper.bsky.social and @shannonosaka.bsky.social exploring the multi-year struggle to ensure Hyundai and other clean energy investors follow high-road labor practices. W/ comments from @betonyjones.bsky.social of @rooseveltinstitute.org. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
How the Hyundai raid could upend Trump’s dream of more U.S. factories
President Trump said he stood up for Georgia workers by detaining 300 South Korean nationals. Experts say he risks killing thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs.
washingtonpost.com
Trump’s ICE raid at the Hyundai/LG plant isn’t protecting American jobs — it’s propaganda. >>
When asked which approach they want to see the Democratic Party take, Democratic voters overwhelmingly favor: - Fighting for the working class - Taking on corporate interests - Taking on corruption in D.C. - Lowering prices - Emphasizing a bold, progressive agenda
Seeing lots of innovative social leadership on climate- very uplifting to see what’s possible when people activate: news.bloomberglaw.com/employee-ben...
New York Pension Adds $2 Billion to Climate Index-Fund Stake
The New York State Common Retirement Fund is boosting its investment in an equity index focused on reducing the risks of climate change and accelerating the transition to cleaner energy.
news.bloomberglaw.com
Chicago Teachers Secure Deal for Greener, Healthier Schools truthout.org/articles/chi...
Chicago Teachers Secure Deal for Greener, Healthier Schools
CTU’s new contract includes first-ever green school commitments — led by teachers and activists.
truthout.org
While I am as alarmed about my 401k as the next guy, I agree that the S&P500 is a poor indicator of the health of our economy or the economic well being of a lot of working Americans. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/o...
Opinion | Stock Ownership Is What Really Divides Americans
It is not synonymous with the health of the country.
nytimes.com
Democratic failures result from creeping authoritarianism. The elected ruler gradually eviscerates political pluralism and institutional checks and balances until the irreducible minimum condition for democracy—the ability of the people to replace their leaders in free and fair elections—is gone
"Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked." -Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
I just read that Bill Gates estimated he’s paid $14B over the years, but could have/should have/would have paid $40B. All of us in the 99% should unite around tax reform.
Betony Jones@betonyjones.bsky.social · 2y ago@rutgerbregman.com Bregman’s book Humankind changed my worldview in profound ways. I read it at the beginning of the pandemic and return to his thesis when things get particularly dark. Now he’s calling for tax fairness— a foundational solution that philanthropy won’t fund. gofund.me/a0943d91. Join
@rutgerbregman.com Bregman’s book Humankind changed my worldview in profound ways. I read it at the beginning of the pandemic and return to his thesis when things get particularly dark. Now he’s calling for tax fairness— a foundational solution that philanthropy won’t fund. gofund.me/a0943d91. Join
Donate to Support our Tax Fairness Fellowship, organized by Rutger Bregman
This week, the World Economic Forum in Davos kicks off again. Global elites will ga… Rutger Bregman needs your support for Support our Tax Fairness Fellowship
gofund.me
Tragic as it is for his family, the slaying of United Healthcare’s CEO provides a spotlight for a massive concentration of personal stories of health insurance claim denials— equally tragic in the harm, suffering, and deaths they have caused. The system is not working->
In the Biden Administration we were focused daily on building back the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. Trickle down economics is a euphemism for a top-up economics.
The U.S. is still way behind Germany in apprentices per capita, but this growth is real. There are ever expanding education and training pathways to a good career that won’t put you in debt.
Members of labor unions broke for Harris with huge margins— 17pts— but the rest of the working class migrated further toward Trump. We fought our tails off for working people, but only organized labor had the ground game to deliver the message. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
Harris campaign failed to connect with working class, US union federation says
AFL-CIO president says Democrats did not listen to low-income voters struggling to make ends meet
theguardian.com
Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. —Leonard Cohen, Anthem
